The Association of Municipalities of the Western Costa del Sol presented on Friday the new environmental classroom of the Costa del Sol Environmental Complex to the Education delegates of the eleven municipalities of the association so that they could see first-hand the educational offer of this facility, which is managed by Urbaser. The president of the Mancomunidad, Manuel Cardeña, together with the mayor of Casares, Juan Luis Villalón, received all the councillors to present this new interactive classroom so that all the educational centres in the region can find out about its offer and request a visit. The visit, among other councillors, was attended by the councillor for Education of Mijas, Melisa Ceballos (PP).

The environmental classroom has an immersive room, with 3D technology, in which visitors can experience and learn about the journey of waste from the time it is collected by dust carts until it is sorted at the Complex for recycling. A virtual reality projection with 3D glasses takes visitors inside the plant and takes them through all the phases. The visit continues in a second interactive room with various activities in which visitors, through games, learn about concepts such as selective collection, the machinery used in the plant to separate the different materials, the importance of separating waste at home, the value of waste, the energy self-sufficiency of the complex and what the landfill is like. All this with interactive games and simulators. Among them a Scalextric in which the cars have been replaced by dust carts and the visitors themselves, riding on exercise bicycles, generate the energy to move the vehicles.

Even the toilets in the classroom become a place to learn, as visitors can see the water cycle by means of posters on the walls and mirrors. To conclude the visit, the students will take a short bus tour to see the facilities. The education centres of the municipalities can already book their appointments through the website costadelsol.eco. There they will find a pop-up window of the Environmental Classroom with a calendar to choose the day and the instructions for the visit. This initiative is aimed at primary (from 3rd grade onwards) and secondary school students. The maximum capacity is 40 people and the visit lasts approximately two hours. Of course the activity is completely free of charge. The transfer to the Environmental Complex will be paid by the schools.

 

Education and environmental awareness  

During the visit, the president of the institution Cardeña highlighted "the important educational and awareness-raising work carried out by the Mancomunidad, promoting this new classroom to all the schoolchildren of the Western Costa del Sol". "It is a very attractive and educational way of teaching the importance of recycling, waste treatment and environmental awareness", he explained. At the same time, he thanked the councillor of Casares and all the municipalities  for their "involvement" and "commitment". "This is a work and a success of all the municipalities of the Costa del Sol and therefore very good news to continue working on environmental education and awareness", he said. Cerdeña took advantage of the meeting to inform the councillors delegates of Education in the municipalities of the region that all schools on the Costa del Sol can already request their free visits to this facility that has been described as "the most innovative environmental classroom in the country for its methodology, combining the latest 3D technology with educational games in an ideal environment for students". It is also a self-sufficient building, as it is equipped with photovoltaic panels for self-supply. 

Cardeña highlighted the work of the mayor of Casares, Juan Luis Villalón, in his previous stage as the Mancomunidad's SUW delegate, in achieving this classroom, which has already been awarded by the Junta de Andalucía, for its design, in the Andalusian Environment Awards (PAMA) 2023 in the category of Education and Environmental Awareness; Villalón emphasised the "great challenge" that all institutions are taking on to fight against climate change. "It is a classroom prepared with great love and care, taking into account all the needs of our students, who are the future of our city", added Villalón. "The Costa del Sol is one of the areas with the highest rate of waste waste sorting in our province and in Andalusia, but we are not going to stop there and we are going to continue working to improve it", he concluded, while congratulating the president of the Mancomunidad and the delegate for the Environment, Juan Olea, for all their work. 

 

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